We have elective classes on Friday mornings at the Inside Outside School. This article is about the Tea Ceremony Elective taught by Deborah. The class began by considering the 4 principles of tea ceremony: respect (of others and of the ceremony tools), purity (of the mind through focus, the environment, the tea making tools, and the senses), harmony (with people and with nature), and tranquility (appreciation and shared responsibility for the peaceful environment).
The children participated in a tea ceremony, tasting the green matcha tea, and observing its preparation. The next week the students learned the names and functions of all the tea ceremony tools. Following classes involved learning and practicing the correct arrangement of the tea tray and how to prepare the tea, step by step. The students also took a couple weeks to work on writing haiku poetry which would be used for their ornamental scroll. We shared a high tea in the gardens with Earl Gray tea and homemade scones. We spend one class learning the Japanese flower arranging methods of Ikibana. Returning to the tea ceremony, we continued preparing to demonstrate the ceremony to an invited guest. The last two classes were demonstration days.
The children participated in a tea ceremony, tasting the green matcha tea, and observing its preparation. The next week the students learned the names and functions of all the tea ceremony tools. Following classes involved learning and practicing the correct arrangement of the tea tray and how to prepare the tea, step by step. The students also took a couple weeks to work on writing haiku poetry which would be used for their ornamental scroll. We shared a high tea in the gardens with Earl Gray tea and homemade scones. We spend one class learning the Japanese flower arranging methods of Ikibana. Returning to the tea ceremony, we continued preparing to demonstrate the ceremony to an invited guest. The last two classes were demonstration days.
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